Love In Action Black And White Black Maria Open My Eyes Trapped I Saw The LightWith the exception of my wife not coming along the evening played out as if I’d planned it. I arrived after the opening act had started, sold my extra ticket within 2 minutes, met Prairie and then Todd out front, got TR to sign my Arena booklet and put it back in the car before I even entered; timing is everything! Paul Freeman was the opening act and was well received; the part I heard was quite good, good luck to you Paul!ARENA: Mad Afraid Mercenary Gun Courage Weakness Strike Pissin’ Today Bardo Mountaintop Panic Manup
Encores: Couldn’t I Just Tell You Just One Victory
This show was night-and-day better than last year’s performance. At the GAMH they played the entire new album when virtually no one in the audience had heard it before, and the band was still learning it on the road; they also had some travel issues the previous night. The whole thing added up to a ragged offering including a couple of genuine train wrecks, This year they really came across as polished, professional and dare I say well-rehearsed (!!). The crowd sang (an early) Happy Birthday to Todd, and he said “I’m holding on to 60 for as long as I can”. The guy played all the guitar solos and just generally kicked ass (to invoke a hoary rock cliché). Most encouraging to me was how well the Arena material was received. You never know what Todd’s going to do next (who saw the AWATS shows coming) but after last night I can’t wait to see what comes next!